Mobil to Offer an Electronic Pass for Gasoline

A gasoline marketer that helped pave the way for motorists to pay at the pump with a credit card has a new device that should speed visits to its service stations while letting customers leave the card at home.

Mobil Corp. plans to introduce in May an electronic gizmo to hook on a key chain that uses radio signals to activate the gas pump and charges the purchase with a single swipe past the pump.

The Mobil Speedpass eliminates the need to fumble through a purse or wallet for a credit card or cash and to wait for authorization.

“The guy who wins this game is the guy who provides what the customer wants. Our target customer wants speed, and this gives him speed,” said Brian Baker, a top Mobil marketing executive.

The passes will be good only at Mobil stations whose independent owners choose to have them installed. The Fairfax, Va.-based company said the program will start in Los Angeles; San Diego; Boston-Rhode Island-New Hampshire; Chicago; Detroit; Miami; Orlando and Tampa, Fla.; and Washington.

The pass will be available free of charge starting in May, and Mobil hopes to have 1 million customers using it by the end of the year. Mobil has 7,700 outlets in the U.S.

The Speedpass is a cylinder about an inch long and a quarter of an inch in diameter that can be attached to a key ring.